I'm very satisfied with Pearl Izumi. Good quality, reasonably priced considering how well made the stuff is. And Louis Garneau items are often on sale for deep discounts and are outstanding bargains on sale (I have LG jerseys, summer weight gloves and a couple other items). And I'm very impressed with the quality and value of AeroTech, although I don't wear their tight fitting shorts often. I don't need the padding since my saddles are padded. And because most of my rides include social gatherings, visiting friends who aren't cyclists, museums and art galleries, I prefer casual shorts over tight fitting manly bulge shorts.
I'd consider most of my handful of Pearl Izumi items to be essentials for my riding comfort:
- Sleeveless Transfer base layer undershirt using "minerale" fabric
- Canyon baggy plaid shorts
- Select Barrier windbreaker
Notably the "minerale" fabric sleeveless base layer. Incredibly comfortable year 'round, so much so that I wear it in summer under nicer shirts while cycling so I don't get soggy perspiration marks. And it's my always-wear item for cool and cold weather cycling. Best wicking fabric I've ever worn, including some merino wool items.
The PI Canyon shorts are terrific, especially at the $25 sale price I got last year. Comfortable, great attention to detail in stitching and tailoring, mesh liner, etc. Well worth the full retail price, and a steal on sale. Durable too. I took a hard fall on pavement this week and can't find any damage to the shorts -- although it was remarkably smooth pavement and even my thin Champion long sleeve jersey was barely scuffed, no holes worn through.
And we have a PI outlet store, so occasionally I can snag an item for the same price as any online retailer, or even less. In November I bought a Select Barrier ultra-thin windbreaker from the local PI outlet shop for $30, while online I couldn't find one for less than $40-$50 (the one I bought may have been a second, but I couldn't find any flaws). Easily one of the best bits of cycling apparel I've owned. I've even loaned it to other cyclists who didn't dress warmly enough for our nighttime group rides.
It's incredibly effective despite being so thin. I've worn it over a baselayer longsleeve jersey and Nike Dri-Fit hoodie for rides in 20F weather and was actually sweating after 30 minutes or so on gravel and no-road rides in open fields. With just a longsleeve thin jersey for wicking it's still comfortable in the 60s. Adjusting the front zipper flows air through to the rear pocket, which is lined with mesh fabric, so it doesn't feel like wearing plastic food wrap. Packs down into its own rear pocket, so I can stuff it into a jersey pocket, or a small Lowepro lens bag that I use as a handlebar bag, or in a ziplock sandwich bag under a cargo net on my rear rack to keep it clean on the gravel trails.
The mid-2000s era Pearl Izumi arm warmers more ordinary, no better or worse than others. The newer PI arm warmers are better, but I paid only $10 for the old style PI arm warmers at the outlet store. They're comfortable and warm, but newer fabrics are thinner, warmer and wick well enough to be useful even in warmer weather for sun protection. Nashbar's own knee warmers are better than the mid-2000s era of Pearl Izumi warmers, but PI has improved their products significantly since then and are much nicer than Nashbar, Garneau and other lower priced apparel.